Our culture is obsessed with money. When someone has a problem we tend to assume that money is the most efficient way to solve it.
Bad health? Hire a doctor.
Lonely? Pay for a dating service.
No time to cook? Buy premade convenience foods...
The list goes on and on.
But what if you looked at it differently? What if we tried (first) to meet our wants & needs without money? Would it work?
Bad health? Get physically active & change your diet.
Lonely? Take a walk around your neighborhood & say hello to the people who live there.
No time to cook? Learn to make simple, healthy meals on the weekend to freeze.
The possibilities are endless.
But why? If you're working 60 hours a week & you're making $80k you have to find a way to spend it, right? Otherwise you might realize that you're working for nothing. That any money earned, above that which pays for your true wants & needs is like smoke in the wind. And, if you're miserable at your job then you're miserable in exchange for that smoke in the wind.
Sobering thought, eh?
When someone asks me, usually with longing in their voice, how I manage to stay home with my son (as a single mom) & live such an amazing life. I say that I quit my job, downsized, got rid of the car and TV and really started engaging in life. Oh, and one more thing. I forgot about money.
Well, not completely, but my relationship with it changed. I recognized that money was a means, not an end, and began to treat it accordingly. Whenever I caught myself thinking "man, I wish I had more money." I would pause, and try to pinpoint what it was that I really wanted. Did I want it to do something? Buy something? Or gift it to a friend or family member in need? Was there a way I could get the thing/experience I wanted while avoiding the middle man; money is, after-all, just a middle man, and all middle men have their price.
I joined trading sites like paperbackswap.com to feed my book addiction & swapadvd.com to feed my movie addiction. I thought about how I would like to spend my days, lucky for me my dream life is going to the park & spending time with my son, and realized that by selling my car I could support my simplified lifestyle for a year!
My lifestyle is very basic, some might even call it radical, but it works for me & makes me immensely happy. Try taking money out of the equation & then take some time to find out what works for you.
Namaste
